Republicans Pushing To Raise Taxes

How does the Republican Party continue to win elections? The Associated Press is reporting that GOP legislators are opposing the extension of a payroll tax cut that will expire on Jan. 1. The clear, unavoidable message: Americans workers should pay more taxes, while the rich should pay less.

That's not a joke, and it's not an Onion headline. The very same Republicans who have fought tooth-and-nail to keep George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy from expiring are now in favor of doing away with a tax cut that will primarily hit wage-earners -- people who actually have to work for a living, people who are struggling to pay their mortgages and wincing every time they fill up their gas tank.

There's not even any attempt to hide the hypocrisy.

"It's always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn," says Rep. Jeb Hensarling, "but not all tax relief is created equal for the purposes of helping to get the economy moving again." The Texas lawmaker is on the House GOP leadership team.

The theoretical basis for this argument, such as it is, is based on the assumption that keeping taxes low on the "job-creators" -- the rich, and corporations -- will spur investment and hiring. The empirical evidence for this theory has always been slim -- some of the strongest economic growth rates of the last century in the United States occurred when taxes on the wealthy were at their highest rates -- but it's particularly absurd right now, after two years in which corporate profits have been high, taxes have been low, and employment growth has been paltry.

"No one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions."

Newly re-elected President Barack Obama has said the wealthy must pay more taxes under any political settlement to avert a looming budget crisis. He said Congress must act against the so-called fiscal cliff, a package of tax rises and spending cuts due early next year. But in a duelling news conference, Republican House Speaker John Boehner said tax rises would not be acceptable.

Budget analysts warn the US will tip into recession unless a deal is struck. Mr Obama has repeatedly called for the affluent to pay more, but such a plan is anathema to Republicans. The fiscal cliff would see the expiry of George W Bush-era tax cuts at the end of 2012, combined with automatic, across-the-board reductions to military and domestic spending.

'Open to compromise'

In the East Room of the White House on Friday, Mr Obama said: "We can't just cut our way to prosperity. If we're serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue. And that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes." The Democratic president continued: "I want to be clear. I'm not wedded to every detail of my plan. I'm open to compromise. I'm open to new ideas... but I refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced."

He repeated his oft-stated call for tax rises on earnings over $250,000 (£157,000), while urging Congress to extend existing rates for 98% of taxpayers. "This was a central question during the election," said Mr Obama. "It was debated over and over again. On Tuesday night, we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my approach." He also invited Democratic and Republican leaders to the White House next week to discuss how to move forward. A White House spokesman said afterwards the president would veto any bill extending tax cuts for those making more than $250,000.

The clear, unavoidable message: Americans workers should pay more taxes, while the rich should pay less.

No genius, the clear unavoidable message is that someone out there is looking out for Social Security and it isn't Barry Deficit Spender. Perhaps you don't understand the payroll tax directly funds Social Security outlays and to continue to treat it like any other tax football puts this program, that almost all of America supports, in serious fiscal jeopardy.

It just never ceases to amaze me with the liberals on this board how clueless you all are about basic fiscal matters.

Pendragon, if liberals had any sense of shame your face would be burning. The party of higher taxes and higher spending are whining about not continuing a temporary tax cut for a failing program. Go ahead, fool, and drive it out of existence quicker.

Granny says, "Raise `em a whole lot - dey ain't been payin' dey's fair share o' taxes for quite a while now...‘It Won’t Kill The Country If We Raise Taxes a Little Bit on Millionaires’November 12, 2012 - Fox News contributor and editor of The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol said “it won’t kill the country” if the U.S. government raises taxes on millionaires.

He added that the GOP and those within the conservative movement need “to pull back” and make way for new ideas. During the panel discussion yesterday on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Kristol said, “I think we have a huge middle-class problem. There the particular nominee Republicans had was unfortunate in that respect. Four years after a huge Wall Street crisis, you nominate someone from Wall Street.”

He continued, “But I think honest debate, fresh thinking, the leadership in the Republican Party and the leadership in the conservative movement has to pull back. Let people float new ideas. Let’s have a serious debate. Don’t scream and yell at what one person says.”

“You know what?” he said. “It won’t kill the country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires. It really won’t, I don’t think. I don’t really understand why Republicans don’t take Obama’s offer to freeze taxes for everyone below $250,000. Make it $500, make it a million.”

Kristol also questioned GOP lawmakers on defending “a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic.” “Really? The Republican Party is going to fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic and half of whom live in Hollywood and are hostile to Republican principles?” he said.

At the Nov. 8th Christian Science Monitor Breakfast in Washington, Schumer praised House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on the tone of his recent remarks about working with the president on debt reduction. But Schumer was also critical of the thought that any deficit reduction deal would include lowering taxes in order to spur economic growth.

“When you unpack the Speaker’s speech there is a premise that doesn’t quite work and we’re going to have to help him move others in the Republican Party away from it,” Schumer said.

“Part of his speech he talked about dynamic scoring, this idea that if you cut taxes you will increase revenues. Well, it’s about time we debunked that myth, it’s a Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, dynamic scoring. You may remember Rumpelstiltskin was the fairy tale figure who turned straw into gold. It was a lovely thing but it was a fairy tale.”